Westminster. Rouen. Chinon. Poitiers. The Four Centres Of Power For Henry II Plantagenet. Mediæval King Of England 1154 – 1189. Friend And Foe Of Thomas à Becket. (Part Five).

Soundtrack from Simon Schama’s

“A History of Britain”,

which included King Henry II's reign.

Sung by Emma Kirkby (Soprano)

Music by John Harle.

Available on YouTube

HERE

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,

unless stated otherwise.

[It remains to be seen whether the British Government will now (2025) rename these two Royal Navy Ships (posthumously) as, indeed, they renamed the about-to-be Christened Submarine “Agincourt” to “Achilles”. All this was to avoid embarrassing the French !!!]

The first HMS Poictiers was a 74-Gun Third-Rate, launched in 1809. She participated in an action where she rescued HMS Frolic by capturing the USS Wasp in 1812. Poictiers was broken up in 1857.

The second HMS Poictiers was a 2,380 ton Battle-Class Destroyer, launched in April 1946, but broken up soon after.

The first decisive victory of a Christian army over a Muslim power, the Battle of Tours, was fought by Charles Martel’s men in the vicinity of Poitiers, France, on 10 October 732 A.D. For many historians, it was one of the World’s pivotal moments.

Eleanor of Aquitaine frequently resided in the Town of Poitiers, which she embellished and fortified, and, in 1199, entrusted with Communal Rights. In 1152, she married the future King Henry II of England in Poitiers Cathedral.

During the Hundred Years' War, the Battle of Poitiers, an English victory, was fought near the Town on 19 September 1356. Later in the War, in 1418, under duress, the Royal Parliament moved from Paris to Poitiers, where it remained in exile until the Plantagenets finally withdrew from the Capital in 1436. During this interval, in 1429, Poitiers was the site of Joan of Arc’s formal inquest.

Poitiers Castle,

France.

Illustration: EUROSTAR

Rouen is a City on the River Seine in the North of France. It is the Capital of the Region of Normandy. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous Cities of Mediæval Europe,

PART SIX FOLLOWS.